You gotta have friends.........

Take a look at these girls.....then, check out what they did to my patio when I was away this morning! I had my own extreme makeover!! This is my wonderful birthday present from them.....these pictures do not do it justice. It's like a little polynesian paradise. There's a rug, table, pillows, iron wall piece, a funky ladder, new plants, outdoor cups, tiki torches, wind charms, I could go on forever!! They told me to come in the side gate and when I walked in, they were all there serving up some refreshing mint tea.
I just feel so blessed to have friendships like I do with this group of girls. I would have never imagined that I would be so blessed in this way and I love each and every one of them. So.....I have to say thank you to Kari, Kim, Julie-Anne, Susan, and Renee'!!!

Flower Children

The boys actually asked me to take their pictures by some flowers in the garden tonight. They were in really silly moods and kept posing and laughing....something must be in the air!

A new addition......

To the house, that is.....We had an arbor being built for the last tree days and it was complete today! We are very excited that we can grill without having a heat stroke and the kids can play while I can read a magazine in the shade (at least for a little while)! We also landscaped the backyard, which was MUCH needed! My parents did most of the work and with all their gardening knowledge, it looks beautiful.
Jackson loves to water the flowers and he is quite the gardner. He loves to get his hands dirty. Drew, on the other hand, loves to run on the flagstone path thru the garden playing "Hansel and Gretel." He's kinda in his own world...it's pretty fun to see them explore in their own ways :)Come on over for a visit and sit awhile.......

All-American Fun!

We had a great 4th of July with family! The weather cooperated and we had a house full of people, so we grilled and made home-made ice cream. We ended up watching the fireworks in our front yard which was the best seat it town!
On Sunday, we took the boys to the Rangers game and we had a blast. They consumed sno-cones, cotton candy, and hot dogs. Then, they ran the bases, hit balls, and played all the games that they had for the kids. Jackson won a program which told who all the players were, so we spent time looking up all the players pictures as they came up to bat. They are already asking to go back......is it because they love baseball or hot dogs?? Time will tell........

Don't leave me!!

I am having computer problems again where I cannot connect to the internet on my laptop, which is where all my pictures are. I'm getting it fixed on Tuesday, so stay tuned.......

Catching up.....

Just a quick catch-up on what we've been doing lately.......I finally got my computer working again, so hopefully, I will be more punctual in updating the exciting happenings in the Maupin household!!
The boys and I took a trip to Kansas City for my dad's 60th birthday!! A lot of fishing, canoeing, and the long standing tradition of hitting golf balls into the lake to see how far they will go......fun, fun, fun!! We had a great visit and celebrated my dad's birthday at my parents house with about 70 of his closest friends :)
Last weekend, my mom took my sister and I on or annual "Girls Mystery Trip." That means that my mom plans a trip for us and we don't know where we are going until the day before. It is very exciting. This year, we went to Las Vegas to see Celine Dion perform---which was spectacular!! Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We also saw the Cirqu de Soleil "O" show, which is their water show. It was also amazing. I had to include the picture of my sister among the Las Vegas regulars at the slot machines. My mom and I weren't so lucky on the slots, but Amanda won about $400!!
Do you know who the large man is with Amanda and I?? Look closely because we weren't sure, but that is Ruben Studdard, who won American Idol a couple of years ago. He was walking thru the lobby of our hotel and Amanda and I, being the celebrity stalkers that we are, recognized him and requested a picture. That was our big brush with fame....
I'm home now and so grateful to my dad, who when I was away, practically landscaped the whole backyard!! It looks awesome! And, my mom, who always makes me feel so special and loved. I so appreciate everything that they do for us!
Jackson is busy this week with "Weird Science" camp and Drew has "Pirate Camp." I go to the grocery store or clean the house in between camps.......back to reality!!

Technical Difficulties..........

I'm experiencing technical difficulties with my laptop. We just got back from a wonderful week in Kansas City and I have some great pictures to post, but something is wrong with my internet connection on my laptop. I will work on it this weekend and hopefully be up and running again soon.
Stay tuned......

What a day!

The boys had a wonderful day today. This morning, we went to Sandy Lake Park with some friends. It is an old-time amusement park that has little rides that are perfect for kids.
As you can see, we started off pretty tame on the little boat ride, then graduated to the rock 'n' roll ride with all the kids and then finally ended up on the roller-coaster which they loved! I think they will be fans of Six Flags! If you can enlarge the action shot of everyone on the roller coaster, it is hilarious. My friend Renee' and I were laughing so hard when we watched our friend Kari brave the roller coaster with the kids. It just didn't look right for a grown woman to be riding that little thing.

Finally, a dream come true for Jackson and Drew....Jason heard that Scooby Doo and Shaggy were going to be at LifeTime Fitness this afternoon, so we couldn't miss it. The boys were pumped up to see them and then....there they were. And where was Drew? Hiding behind my legs. He was so everwhelmed, he didn't know what to do. Jackson was a little overwhelmed as well and would only go see the characters with our friend, Jadyn. She was braver than he was! It was so funny. I guess this was a little preview of what they will be like at Disneyworld......

The Great Outdoors

We arrived at Hugo Lake State Park well after dark. No one was there to greet us or take us to our cabins. Our cabins were locked and it was pitch dark. We also realized that we were locked in the park and couldn't drive to find a hotel. It became clear to us that we were on our own for the first night. The kids were excited about the fact that we may have to all (8 of us) sleep in one tent or in the cars...Luckily, one of the dads said "Let's check under the mat" Sure enough, there were the keys!! We were in and our camping adventure began!
The next day was beautiful--very hot and no rain, so the kids took off down by the lake (which was right behind the cabins)and caught all sorts of bugs, climbed rocks, and tried to catch fish (no luck).
We turned on the sprinklers in the middle of the day to cool off and went to the swimming beach at at the lake. We slowed things down to play Emily's "Dora Dominoes" and then finally ended that big day with a delicious dinner prepared by the Meadows!
Of course, no camping trip would be complete without smores and glow sticks which the kids ran with in the dark like crazy for an hour playing all sorts of silly games with the glow sticks from ninjas to Star Wars......Sunday morning, we woke up to pouring rain, so we cooked breakfast on the screened in porch and lingered back there (remember we had a coffeemaker) for a couple of hours while the kids ran around in the cabins. Finally, time to pack up for the wet trip back home. Jackson and Drew call the Meadows kids their "camping cousins" and can't wait to go again next year. We all came home with smiles on our faces from a great weekend!

Into the Woods......

Bug Spray.....check.
Tent......check.
Marshmallows.....check.
Coffee Maker.....check.

In case you're confused, we are heading to Oklahoma with some friends for a weekend of camping! Once we heard that we had electricity at our campsite, we HAD to bring the coffeemaker! We'll be roughing it with a little creature comfort from home. Stay tuned for pictures and stories!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

For the past two days, the boys have been asking me if it was Mother's Day. So today, they were so excited to give me their presents that they had made at school (loved the homemade keychain and painted whale!!) and serve me breakfast in bed! They loved being "servers" and could not let an opportunity pass to argue over who was the "best server." I don't know what the rest of the day holds, but I am so thankful to be a mother and cannot remember what I did or what I thought about before I became one. It is such a honor.
I also want to thank my mom and mother-in-law for being loving, encouraging, and inspirational examples of mothers!

Just a quiet lunch.......

Three days a week, it's just Drew and I. We have our routine of running errands (going to Target), going to LifeTime Fitness, and then having lunch at home. Jackson doesn't know it, but on those days, we eat lunch in the family room while we watch a movie!!! It's such a treat for Drew to eat off his little tray and get to pick any movie he wants--today, we watched Sesame Street. I usually try to squeeze my plate on the tray with him and we just enjoy Elmo. Life is good.

Flying High

My sister gave Jackson a Butterfly Pavillion for his birthday in January. Well, we finally got around to sending off for the creepy caterpillars which we got 2 weeks ago.We watched them turn into their chyrsallis and then they emerged into beautiful butterlies! It was quite a sight (there was a lot of blood involved, who knew??)Anyways, today we released our 10 butterflies into our backyard. The boys got to hold them and they flitted around our backyard until the boys finally chased them away.

I wear my sunglasses at night........

Drew is at the age where he insists on doing odd things for no apparent reason. Some days, he must carry his "computer" (a calculator) with him everywhere, other days he insists on being called "Velma" from Scooby Doo, but tonight........he wanted to wear his sunglasses to bed. Oh, the mind of a 3 year old......

Spanish Lesson

SETTING: In the car, just Drew and me.

DREW: Mom, I know my first Spanish word.

ME: You do? What is it?

DREW: Latte'!!!!

A few too many trips to Starbucks with mom???

Easter with a twist of Thanksgiving.........

I say "Easter with a twist of Thanksgiving" because this Easter was COLD!!! We couldn't believe it when we walked outside the day before Easter and there were snow flurries?!?! Come on, we live in Texas! Despite the cold, we had family visit and got to spend some great time with them.
My parents and my sister came to visit and for Easter dinner, my cousin, Chris and his wife Jenifer came to help celebrate!
Every year, when I get the boys their Easter shirts, Jason will usually make a comment on them because they will be something out of the ordinary that they wouldn't usually wear. This year, they were dubbed "The Barbershop Twins" because he thought they looked like those guys that sing in a quartet. I thought they looked like little easter eggs and they were so handsome.
After dinner, the boys had their own sort of easter egg hunt for the adults. Drew "hid" his easter candy for us to find (which meant it might be "hiding" in the middle of the floor) and Jackson hid some eggs for us to find. So, I can say that the adults as well as the children had a great Easter!

Go, Rockhounds!!

Yes, you heard right...Rockhounds is the name of Jackson's baseball team. The last 2 seasons it was the Red Sox, but the kids think Rockhounds is much cooler. If you're "player in the zone". you get your own dogtag--how cool is that?
Tonight was the first game and Jackson played 3rd base and got a good hit both times at bat. The boys have come a long way from when they started. They at least kind of pay attention to what's going on instead of picking grass out in the field.
What they're really into is the snacks and drinks afterwards. It was our night to bring snacks and Drew could hardly wait to pass out the snacks to the big boys. Then, he proceeded to run the bases which has become a little tradition for Jason and him after the games. He's gearing up for his own team "just like his brother's"
Unfortuntely, it started lightning and thundering in the middle of the game, so they called it. It was a good start to a fun season!

Pizza and Movie Night

Tonight, we had a "make your own pizza" and movie night! They boys were soooo excited to do everything themselves. Here are some step by step pictures of what they did--in case you ever need to know how to make a pizza! What movie did they pick??? Scooby Doo, of course!

Fun in the Sun!!

Wow--what a trip!! We had a wonderful week on Captiva Island, Florida!Here are a few highlights of our trip. I have so many pictures, so I will post some more later this week. One of the MAJOR highlights was that Jackson caught his 100th fish!! This was something he had been working on with my dad for about 2 years. On the last night, the owner of the restuarant we were at made a presentation to Jackson with a trophy with a fish on top. The whole restaurant clapped for him and he hid behind me until the fuss calmed down. Then, he proudly held it on his head (see pic.) and walked around the restuarant showing people. He can hardly wait to take it to school for show and tell. Now, since Papa (my dad) helped Jackson catch his first 100, he will now start to work with Drew who, at press time, has 10 fish :)
Another day, we did took kayaks thru the mangrove jungle where we saw jellyfish, crabs, lots of fish, racoons, and many beautiful birds. The boys loved that!
And, of course, the beach!! We had a beautiful beach next to our house and the boys couldn't get enough of it. They really got into digging holes and making sandcastles this year.
On a low note, Drew and I brought sickness to the trip. We came with little colds that turned into major bronchial issues and then pink eye for both of us! By the end of the week, we went to the island doctor and everyone got a round of antibiotics--my dad included. I hear my mom isn't feeling so hot now either......sorry!
All in all, it was a great trip and we are so blessed to be able to see the boys experience so many interesting and new things. They are great travelers and we were all sad to leave......we can't wait for next year!